"Computer guys can never just tell you something. They have to spend all day explaining it to you..."
- Yamato "Matt" Ishida
Digimon Adventure 1
When night fell, the city streets turned into no man's land - They felt like desolate war zones lined with tall, silent apartment complexes on either side. A long row of streetlights, with a considerable distance between each post, glowed dimly down upon the two figures stalking the pavement below. The brief moments when isolated between two pools of light, they quickly faded into the darkness and seemed to disappear like ghosts. Upon reemerging, the shadow of a tall and slender young man would be projected onto the brick wall backdrop - and along side this shadow walked what could only be described as the silhouette of a prehistoric beast.
"Wait," the man would eventually utter as he came to an abrupt halt. The creature next to him stopped on command and lowered its head, staring into the dark streets with narrow, predatory eyes. Soon, both their gazes would fixate on one of the streetlights across the road which had begun to flicker and buzz. On and off the lamp flashed, faster and faster as if it was about to explode. The pair quickly turned their attention to the surrounding lampposts when realizing that they had all followed suit. The alert creature waited silently for another order from his human companion, but before any words could be exchanged, the piercing wale of a car alarm suddenly went off in the distance. It echoed out loudly into its empty surroundings and seemed to reach beyond the corners of the entire district. "We can't be far off now, Guilmon," the man said finally and pulled down the hood on his jacket, turning to meet the eyes of the monster beside him who snarled and snorted in response, ready to give chase at any second.
"We're calling it the 'Protection Against Digital Extraterrestrials' Act," announced Mr. Burlenstein, followed by an open-mouth smile and sporadic jazz hands to accompany. "'Protection Against.. Digital Extraterrestrials'?" repeated the young man on the other side of the long table, his hesitant voice echoing ever so slightly in the large meeting room. The other men around the table, all clad in black suits and ties turned to face the boy. "What, you don't like it?" asked Burlenstein again, hunching over the table and intertwining his long, bony fingers in front of him - taking on the resemblance of a vulture. The boy didn't have time to get in an answer before the man opened his mouth again. "Too wordy maybe?" he said with a little cackle.
"No, I just-... Well-..."
"No, no, I get it," Burlenstein interrupted again. "We'll shorten it down to E.T!"
"That's not-" he began for a second time, impatient and irritated now.
"Well if you're concerned about how it's phrased, then-"
"I don't care about the name!" said the boy suddenly and stood up, slamming both his hands down on the table. He glared at Burlenstein, who's smile faded quickly in response. The other suited men continued to wait silently, barely flinching at the surprising outburst. "Oh my," muttered Mr. Burlenstein as he slowly rose from his seat, barely taking a second to reveal his gruesomely tall stature. His clothes hung loosely like sheets atop his skeletal frame. "You seem a bit shaken up, Woods," he said quietly and stared back at the boy, another chilling smile creeping up on his lips. Like a lanky spider, Burlenstein's long legs then carried him over to the big control panel on the other side of the room. "Come over here," he said and turned his head around to wave the boy over. "There's something we'd like to show you." With a push of a button, the gigantic screen above the panel lit up and soaked the room in blinding, blue light.
Woods walked up to stand next to Burlenstein, but a few steps behind. He squinted to adjust his eyes to the bright screen before taking in what it was displaying. It was a map of the city, or maybe the state - he couldn't quite tell just yet. "There seems to be a weak spot in this area," said Burlenstein as he pointed to one of the far corners of the map. The screen zoomed in to reveal the name and location of a power plant. "Do you know what that means, Woods?" The tall figure peered down at the boy with hooded eyelids. Woods felt somewhat insulted and still impatient. "Yes," he responded, "I do. We've already discussed this. There's some sort of... wormhole in this region It's bound to seal up eventually."
